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Bureau of Mines Information Circular/1983 




Lake Lynn Laboratory: Construction, 
Physical Description, and Capability 

By Robert H. Mattes, Alex Bacho, and Lewis V. Wade 




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



Information Circular 8911 

1\ 



Lake Lynn Laboratory: Construction, 
Physical Description, and Capability 

By Robert H. Mattes, Alex Bacho, and Lewis V. Wade 




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
James G. Watt, Secretary 

BUREAU OF MINES 
Robert C. Horton, Director 



This publication has been cataloged as follows: 



.UiH 



Mattes, Robert H 

Lake Lynn Laboratory: construction, physical description, and 
capability. 

(Information circular / United States Department of the Interior, 3u- 
reau of Mines ; 8911) 

Supt, of Docs, no.: I 28.27:8911. 

1. Lake Lynn Laboratory. I. Bacho, Alex. II. Wade, Lewis V. 
III. Title. IV. Series: Information circular (United States. Bureau of 
Mines) ; 891L 



TN295.L4 [TN207] 622s [622'.072074884] 82-600276 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Abstract 1 

Introduction 2 

A history of Bureau of Mines involvements in fires and explosions research 2 

Purpose of Lake Lynn Laboratory 2 

Overview of the geometries of the facility 3 

Special features of the underground facility 9 

Explosionproof doors 9 

Flexibility of underground layout 16 

Gas-mixing stubs 17 

Ventilation system 17 

Data-gathering (DG) panels 17 

Sensor mounting platforms 20 

Shotf ire circuits 22 

Instrumentation cable distribution 22 

Utility distribution 22 

Rib, roof , and floor condition 26 

Control and data acquisition systems 26 

Data acquisition system 26 

Gas analysis system 27 

High-speed analog recorders 27 

Control system 27 

Conclusions 27 

Appendix 28 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

1. Location of the Lake Lynn Laboratory 4 

2 . Plan view of underground workings 5 

3. Approximate dimensions of the underground workings 5 

4. Control building 6 

5. Artist's rendition of the underground drifts 7 

6. Portal canopy illustration as built 8 

7. View of the site in summer 1981 8 

8 . Aerial view of the Lake Lynn site 9 

9. Geologic column of strata in vicinity of Lake Lynn Laboratory 10 

10. Explosionproof bulkhead location 11 

1 1 . Movable bulkhead room 12 

12. Movable bulkhead before installation of reinforcing rods and pouring of 

concrete 13 

13. Movable bulkhead in partially closed position 13 

14. Set of trucks that carry the movable bulkhead 14 

15. Air tugger in movable bulkhead room 14 

16. Remote-controlled 24-in butterfly valve installed in movable bulkhead 15 

17. Instrument room in C drift illustrating the locations of conduits and 

s howing marine door 15 

18. Single-entry configuration 16 

19. Triple-entry configuration 16 

20. Longwall face — single-entry configuration 16 

21. Longwall face — triple-entry configuration 16 

22. Gas mixing room — D drift 18 

23. Remote-controlled ventilation door 18 

24. DG panel (sampling station) locations 19 



IX 



ILLUSTRATIONS—Contlnued 

Page 

25. DG panel — complete communication system 19 

26. DG panel with completed concrete 20 

27. Instrument platform (sensor mounting platform) locations 21 

28. Instrument platform that retracts into the roof of the entries 21 

29. Shotf iring panel 23 

30. Binding post panel 23 

31. Artist's rendition of utility trenches and vertical boreholes into 

underground workings 24 

32. Underground instrument room 24 

33. DG panel — before pouring of concrete fender 25 

34. Forming and reinforcement for the concrete fenders underground 25 

35. View of a completed drift 26 

A-1. Plan view of Bruceton Experimental Mine 29 

A-2 . Portal prior to ins tallation of canopy 30 

A-3. A very early view of the highwall and four portals. 30 

A-4. Cutting utility trench in solid rock near the fanhouse 31 

A-5. Installing conduits from one utility pit to another 31 

A-6. Installing conduits in solid limestone paralleling the highwall between 

the control building and the underground workings 32 

A-7. View of the inside of one of the five utility pits 32 

A-8. Conduits from underground entering computer room 33 

A-9. Drilling in preparation for a blast in drift driving 33 

A-10. Loading explosives into blast holes in the face of a drift 34 

A-11. S.T.3 mucking buggy — used in transporting blasted limestone material out 

of the drifts 34 

A-12. Small bulldozer used for distribution of materials hauled out of the 

drifts to the underground ramp 35 

A-13. Two cranes lowering a 2-ft casing into a vertical borehole 36 

A-14. Five-foot-diameter rock drill used to bore the vertical borehole for the 

ventilation duct 37 

A-15. Ventilation duct being installed underground 37 

A-16. Installing gunite (fibrous) on a fault in B-drift. 38 

A-17. Installation of 4-ft roof bolt in a drift 38 

A-18 . Roof bolt pattern in the old workings 39 

A-19. Reinforcement rods prior to pouring of concrete to construct bulkhead 

for an underground instrument room 39 

A-20. Forms to hold wet concrete for fender to protect instrumentation and 

utility, power, air, and water lines 40 

TABLES 

1 . Underground configurations 16 

A-1. Contractors for the Lake Lynn Laboratory..... 28 



LAKE LYNN LABORATORY: CONSTRUCTION, PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION, 

AND CAPABILITY 

By Robert H. Mattes, ^ Alex Bacho, ^ and Lewis V. Wade^ 



ABSTRACT 

The Lake Lynn Laboratory is a multipurpose mining research laboratory 
operated by the Bureau of Mines and located in Fairchance, Pa. It con- 
sists of both surface and underground facilities. The initial focus of 
the facility, scheduled for full operation in fall 1982, will be on the 
problems of fires and explosions in mines. The initial experimental ex- 
plosion was fired on March 3, 1982. The intent of this document is to 
provide the reader with detailed information on the physical capabil- 
ities of the Lake Lynn Laboratory. Subsequent publications will focus 
on the capabilities of Lake Lynn as compared with those of other similar 
facilities worldwide, and a comparison of initial explosion test results 
realized at Lake Lynn and comparable results from the Bruceton Experi- 
mental Mines. 

^Supervisory engineering technician, Pittsburgh Research Center, Bureau of Mines, 
Pittsburgh, Pa. 

^Senior staff mining engineer. Bureau of Mines, Washington, D.C. 

■^Supervisory physical scientist, Pittsburgh Research Center, Bureau of Mines, 
Pittsburgh, Pa. 



INTRODUCTION 



A HISTORY OF BUREAU OF MINES INVOLVEMENTS 
IN FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS RESEARCH 

In 1910, the newly created Bureau of 
Mines (Act of Congress 36 Stat. 369, 
March 16, 1910) acquired a 36-acre tract 
of land at Bruceton, Pa. , where an Exper- 
imental Mine was opened for use in large- 
scale research needed to support what was 
then the Bureau's main function — preven- 
tion and suppression of gas and coal dust 
explosions and the schedule testing and 
approval of coal mine explosives. The 
Bureau's schedule testing was initially 
carried out at the Government Arsenal in 
Pittsburgh, but when the Bureau's head- 
quarters moved from the Arsenal to the 
Central Experiment Station at 4800 Forbes 
Avenue, for reasons of safety the explo- 
sives research and testing activities 
were transferred to the new Explosives 
Experimental Station at Bruceton. Later 
the Bruceton facility became the Ex- 
plosives Testing Station; it is pres- 
ently known as the Pittsburgh Research 
Center. 

From 1880 to the present, about 500 
major gas and dust explosions and several 
thousand minor explosions and ignitions 
have occurred in U.S. coal mines. The 
number of fatalities from these occur- 
rences exceeds 15,000. Since 1910, the 
Bureau of Mines has been involved in re- 
search to combat coal mine gas and dust 
explosions. The Bureau has conducted 
over 3,900 large-scale coal dust and gas 
explosions in the Bruceton Experimental 
Mine of the Pittsburgh Research Center 
(PRC) complex. In 1961 the Bureau had to 
curtail large-scale coal dust explosion 
experiments because homes were being 
erected less than a mile from the Bruce- 
ton station. The Experimental Mine en- 
tries (6 ft high by 9 ft wide), while 
representative of mine geometries of the 
1920's and 1930' s, were no longer repre- 
sentative of the greater span mine ge- 
ometries made possible by modern roof- 
support techniques. Furthermore, with 
the recurring application of longwall 
mining, a need existed to conduct 
explosion-related research in geometries 



similar to that of longwall panels; this 
could not be accomplished in the Experi- 
mental Mine. 

In 1968 following the Farmington Mine 
explosion, the need to test barriers (de- 
vices to suppress coal dust explosion) 
under strong-explosion conditions became 
evident. The need for a test facility to 
conduct large-scale fire tests became 
even more imperative following the Sun- 
shine Mine disaster in 1972. 

Considering the continuing need for 
research to combat mine fires and coal 
mine gas and dust explosions, a companion 
facility to the Bruceton Experimental 
Mine was pursued. In the late 1970's, 
the Lake Lynn limestone mine was found to 
meet the experimental research needs for 
safeguarding miners against the risk of 
fires and gas and dust explosions. Plan- 
ning and design of the Lake Lynn Labora- 
tory was initiated, and construction work 
began on December 12, 1979. The under- 
ground development at Lake Lynn was 
designed to yield coal-mine-sized entries 
and configurations. A benefit of having 
such developments in limestone is the 
relative absence of shales that cause 
continuing roof control problems as they 
weather. A list of the maj or contractors 
and suppliers that participated in the 
design and construction of the Lake Lynn 
Laboratory and a chronology of activities 
are presented in the appendix, along with 
a description of the Bruceton Experi- 
mental Mine. 

PURPOSE OF LAKE LYNN LABORATORY 

The Lake Lynn Laboratory was chosen to 
alleviate the major constraints in carry- 
ing out explosion research at the Bruce- 
ton Experimental Mines. The Lake Lynn 
Laboratory provides the Bureau with a 
dedicated and remote location suf- 
ficiently removed from residences to 
allow for the testing of large-scale 
detonations with explosives and deflagra- 
tions of coal and gas explosions. In 
addition. Lake Lynn simulates modern mine 
widths based on advanced roof support 



technology. The availability of the Lake 
Lynn facility, in conjunction with con- 
tinued work at the Bruce ton Experimental 
Mine, will permit enhanced and acceler- 
ated research on fires and explosions. 

The underground layout of Lake Lynn 
allows full-scale research of explosion 
propagation and suppression as en- 
countered in modern U.S. coal mining. 
(More detail on the Lake Lynn layout is 
contained later in this report.) 

Some specific areas of utilization of 
the Lake Lynn Laboratory include — 

• evaluating fire and explosion extin- 
guishing devices. 

• testing passive and active explosion 
barriers for the range of weak to strong 
explosions (gas, coal dust, oil shale, 
and other dust and oil vapors). 

• evaluating ventilation stopping and 
bulkheads . 

• providing an underground test area 
for prototype mining equipment prior to 
testing in operating mines. 

• providing a network of passages for 
ventilation studies, including large (50- 
by 30-ft) workings. 

• conducting roof support studies. 



• investigating methane layering in 
large workings (salt, shale, gassy non- 
coal). 

• investigating explosion hazards of 
mists and vapors (oil, shale, tar sands). 

• evaluating remote methane detection 
hardware . 

• evaluating effectiveness and in- 
cendivity of large-scale explosive 
charges . 

• investigating novel blasting con- 
cepts (active stemming, face inerting). 

• studying vibrations from explosives 
and blasts. 

• providing a remote site for explo- 
sives destruction, 

• conducting equipment maneuverability 
and functional tests. 

OVERVIEW OF THE GEOMETRIES 
OF THE FACILITY 

The facility occupies approximately 80 
acres and is located 15 miles north of 
Morgantown, W. Va. (14 miles south of 
Uniontown, Pa.). Figure 1 shows the lo- 
cation of the facility. The site for the 
laboratory was provided by the Martin- 
Marietta Corp, 



• conducting large-scale blasting 
studies using 4- to 8-in-diam explosive 
charges (for oil shale acceptability 
needs ) . 



• monitoring 
vibrations . 



effects of ground 



• determining toxic hazards of explo- 
sives and diesel engines. 

• determining explosion limits for 
coal and oil shale dust. 

• performing explosive tests on the 
highwall bench (surface mining) . 



The underground facility consists of 
approximately 25,000 ft of 50-ft-wide by 
30-ft-high entries that were developed in 
the mid-1960' s as part of a commercial 
limestone mining operation and 7,500 ft 
of 18-ft-wide by 6.5-ft-high entries 
developed in 1980-81. The new entries' 
actual dimensions range from 6.2 to 
7.5 ft high by 17.5 to 22 ft wide. Fig- 
ure 2 shows a plan view of underground 
entries with the "new" and "old" develop- 
ments identified. Figure 3 shows the 
approximate dimensions of the facility, 
and figure 4 shows the control-support 
building. Figure 5 is an artist's ren- 
dition of the underground workings. 






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FIGURE 1. - Location of the Lake Lynn Laboratory. 



Gas-mixing stub 
Ventilation stub— 



Gas-mixing 




FIGURE 2, - Plan view of underground workings. 




FIGURE 3. - Approximate dimensions of the underground workings. 




V "5^ 



^ SJt* 



FIGURE 4. " Control building. 



The underground workings are accessed 
by four portals located in the highwall 
approximately 200 ft apart. Portal 4 is 
shown in figure 6. The portal openings 
are 21 ft wide by 24 ft high and are 
identified in figure 2. 

The surface facility consists of — 

• the area above the underground 
workings, including the gas analysis 
building, conqjressor building, and fan 
house. 

• nearly 4 acres of level quarry floor 
located at the base of a 1,500- 
running-foot highwall. The highwall 



ranges in height from 130 to 40 ft (shown 
in figs, 7 and 8). 

• a 7,200 ft2, Control-Support Build- 
ing (fig. 4). 

The underground workings are located in 
the Greenbrier Limestone Formation. Fig- 
ure 9 shows a representative strati- 
graphic column for the strata above and 
below the underground workings. The 
cover over the new workings ranges from 
180 to 310 ft, while the cover at the 
ventilation shaft is 284 ft. The appen- 
dix contains a series of photographs 
showing Lake Lynn Laboratory in different 
stages of completion. 




c 
o 



c 



■o 

c 

t/) 



LU 
O 




FIGURE 6. = Portal canopy illustration as built 




FIGURE 7. - View of the site in summer 1981, 





FIGURE 8. = Aerial view of the Lake Lynn site. 
SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE UNDERGROUND FACILITY 



The new workings of the Lake Lynn Lab- 
oratory were designed and equipped to 
provide researchers with a flexible, 
highly sophisticated in-mine test facil- 
ity. The special features of the Lake 
Lynn Laboratory are discussed in the sec- 
tions that follow. 

EXPLOSIONPROOF DOORS 

The new underground workings at Lake 
Lynn Laboratory include two movable 
explosionproof bulkheads. The location 



of these bulkheads are shown in fig- 
ure 10. These bulkheads are 67-ton con- 
crete and steel structures that can be 
positioned anywhere from fully retracted 
to fully blocking the entry. Figure 11 
is a diagram of the bulkhead. Figures 12 
and 13 show the bulkhead in a partially 
constructed and partially closed stage. 
The bulkheads ride on a track (fig. 14) 
and are moved by 5-ton pneumatic winches 
(fig. 15) using 3/4-in-diam wire rope. 
The bulkheads were designed to withstand 
100 psi of static pressure. 



10 




z 
< 

Q. 

CO 
CO 

CO 
CO 






UPPER KITTANNING COAL 
MIDDLE KITTANNING COAL 

LOWER KITTANNING COAL 

KITTANNING SANDSTONE 
CLARION COAL 

BROOKVILLE COAL 

HOMEWOOD SANDSTONE 

MERCER COAL 
CONNOQUENESSING SANDSTONE 

QUAKERTOWN COAL 
SHARON COAL 



I i :;:^: 



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) WYMPS GAP LIMESTONE ^ 

(FORMERLY GREENBRIER LIMESTONE) --^ 




DEER VALLEY LIMESTONE 




LAKE LYNN HIGHWALL FACE 



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SHALE, RED, MEDIUM HARD, FISSILE 
SHALE, GREEN. SILTY, SANDY SEAMS 



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LIMESTONE. GRAY, HARD, MASSIVE 
SHALE, DARK GRAY. BADLY BROKEN 
SHALE, RED. MEDIUM HARD. FISSILE 
LIMESTONE, GRAY. HARD. MASSIVE 
SHALE, GREEN, INTERBEDDED W/LIMESTONE 
LIMESTONE, GRAY, HARD, MASSIVE 

LIMESTOME, DARK GRAY, HARD, MASSIVE 



QUARRY FLOOR 



BURGOON SANDSTONE 



MURRYSVILLE SANDSTONE ? 






GEOLOGIC SECTION 


AT 


LAKE LYNN LABORATORY | 


U.S. DEPARTMENT 




OF THE INTERIOR 




BUREAU OF MINES 





FIGURE 9. - Geologic column of strata in vicinity of Lake Lynn Laboratory. 



11 





P " a 




°n °n ° n ° 

° o° n ^ Q 

a n n 



a 

D 




FIGURE 10. - Explosionproof bulkhead location. 



Each bulkhead is equipped with a 24-in 
butterfly valve (fig. 15) that can be 
remotely operated from the control build- 
ing. These valves allow for partial air- 
flow through a closed bulkhead. This 
partial airflow displaces explosion prod- 
ucts from a test zone following an explo- 
sion and prior to workers' reentering the 
mine. 

The circumference of each face of each 
bulkhead is fitted with an inflatable 
gasket to insure gas containment when the 



bulkhead is used as a barrier in estab- 
lishing a gas zone. The gasket is pres- 
surized with 100 psi of nitrogen to with- 
stand mine pressures up to 110 psi. 

The bulkheads retract into a bulkhead 
chamber (fig. 15), which also houses the 
winch and bulkhead controls. The E entry 
bulkhead chamber is located in the solid 
E entry rib. The bulkhead chambers are 
separated from the entries by 100-psi 
marine doors that are similar to the 
marine door shown in figure 17. 



12 




- ^^ — * 



i 







■^ * 



f"^-»:l 






4»> 



^-^s^^'-i^-:,' "X 





O"'::^ j: 




FIGURE 11. ■■ Movable bulkhead room. 



13 




FIGURE 12. - Movable bulkhead before installation ot reinforcing rods and pour= 
ing of concrete. 




FIGURE 13. - Movable bulkhead in partially closed position. 



14 




FIGURE 14. - Set of trucks that carry the movable bulkhead 




FIGURE 15. - Air tugger in movable bulkhead room. 



15 




FIGURE 16. •=■ Remote-controlled 24-in butterfly valve installed in movable bulkhead. 




FIGURE 17. - Instrument room in C drift illustrating the locations of conduits and showing 
marine door. 



16 



FLEXIBILITY OF UNDERGROUND LAYOUT 

The full underground layout of the new 
workings is shown in figure 2. By selec- 
tively closing each of the two 
explosionproof movable bulkhead, four 



partial underground layouts can be real- 
ized. These configurations are outlined 
in table 1, including reference to the 
particular figure that shows that 
configuration. 



TABLE 1. - Underground configurations 



Configuration 


Description 


Bulkhead position 


Figure 




D entry 


E entry 




1 


Full mine 

Single entry 

Triple entry 

Longwall face, 

single entry. 
Longwall face, 

triple entry. 


Opened 

Closed 

Opened 

Closed 


Opened 

Closed 

Closed 

Opened 


2 


2 


18 


3 

4 

5 


19 

20 

21 









FIGURE 18. - Single-entry configuration. 



FIGURE 19. = Triple-entry configuration. 





FIGURE 20. - Longwall face-single=entry 
configuration. 



FIGURE 21. - Longwall face-triple-entry 
configuration. 



17 



GAS-MIXING STUBS 

There are two gas -mixing stubs in the 
new workings. They are located at the 
head of B entry and in the solid rib side 
of D entry (outby the explosionproof 
bulkhead) at the positions shown in fig- 
ure 2. The gas -mixing stubs are sepa- 
rated from the entries by 3-ft-thick 
reinforced concrete bulkheads designed to 
withstand 100 psi of static pressure. 

The gas-mixing stubs (fig. 22) provide 
for the remotely controlled (from control 
building) release of natural gas at the 
mixing stub location. This release can 
be extended to any point within the mine 
using appropriate piping. This piping 
passes through pressure seals in the 
bulkheads separating the stubs from the 
entries and through preexisting conduits 
that bypass the movable explosionproof 
bulkheads. Gas can be released at con- 
trolled rates from to 34 cfm. Gas 
zones can be developed anywhere within 
the underground workings using various 
combinations of the following six bar- 
riers: rib, roof, floor, face, explo- 
sionproof bulkheads, and polyethylene- 
wood diaphragms . 

Provided at each stub are 2 bundles, 
each containing 12 gas-sampling tubes. 
These tubes can be routed to any point(s) 
in the mine using the same paths as de- 
fined for the gas release. The tubes are 
3/8-in-OD polypropylene. 

VENTILATION SYSTEM 

The new workings are ventilated by a 
four-speed reversible, 100-hp, 60,000-cfm 
fan located at the top of the ventilation 
shaft. The fan can be remotely operated 
from the control building as well as 
directly from the fanhouse. 

Figure 23 shows an explosionproof door 
that can separate the ventilation stub 
from E entry. Also shown in figure 23 is 
the circular ventilation door, which can 
be remotely operated from the control 
building, that is designed to withstand a 
static pressure of 150 psi. Incoming air 
can be conditioned with 240 tons of 



refrigeration capable of removing up to 
30 gpm of water. The old workings can be 
selectively ventilated using exhaust fans 
and ventilation tubing located at por- 
tals 3, 2, and 1. 

DATA-GATHERING (DG) PANELS 

Located throughout the "new workings" 
of the Lake Lynn Laboratory are 50 DG 
panels. The locations of these panels 
are shown in figure 24. Figure 25 is an 
artist's drawing of such a panel, and 
figure 26 shows an actual panel. 

A DG panel is a permanent instrument 
box connected to the control room by 15 
pairs of wires. The box is recessed into 
the rib and serves as a fixed location 
for a static pressure transducer and a 
flame sensor. There are 110 V and 220 V 
ac power available at each panel, as well 
as a voice communications link to the 
control room. 

At each panel there exists the ability 
to issue control instructions. The de- 
vices that can be controlled from a DG 
Panel include — 

• movie (or TV) camera. 

• triggered barriers, 

• calibration of all instruments from 
control room. 

• operation of grab-sampling probes, 

• local ignitions, 

• activation of compressed air to 
purge windows of optical dust probes. 
Instruments that can be monitored from a 
DG panel include — 

• wall pressure transducers (static 
pressure) , 

• infrared phototransistors (flame 
arrival) , 

• photomultiplier tubes (flame radi- 
ation in visible and ultraviolet). 




FIGURE 22. - Gas mixing room— D drift. 




FIGURE 23. - Remote-controlled circular ventilation door is on the right. A marine explosion- 
proof door is on the left. 



19 



LBjEND 
j|_^ Soriilvig station 




D 








Control building 
Surlace quarry 




FIGURE 24. - DG panel (sampling station) locations. 




FIGURE 25. - DG panel-complete communication system. 



20 




FIGURE 26. - DG panel with completed concrete. 



• photomultiplier tubes (flame radi- 
ation in visible and ultraviolet). 

• dynamic pressure transducers (pilot 
probes and drag probes for velocity 
measurements ) . 

• optical dust probes (instantaneous 
concentration of dust in air). 

• grab-sampling probes (for gas and 
dust samples). 

• thermocouplers (for gas tempera- 
tures) . 

• three-color pyrometers (for dust 
cloud temperatures). 

• strain gages (for bulkheads). 



SENSOR MOUNTING PLATFORMS 

There are 38 sensor mounting platforms 
located throughout the new workings of 
the Lake Lynn Laboratory. Figure 27 
shows the location of these platforms. 

A sensor mounting platform is a cen- 
trally located rigid structure suspended 
3 ft from the mine roof. The structure 
is retractable and can be "folded" up 
into the roof. When extended, the plat- 
form provides a l-ft^ horizontal working 
platform upon which to locate hardware 
for "through" measurements. The platform 
will be located approximately 3 ft below 
the mine roof at the center of the entry. 
Figure 28 is an artist's rendition of a 
sensor mounting platform. 



21 



LEOENO 
■ S«»o< mounting pMlonii 





°a°a 
o n i; □ '" 



Control bUWIng 




FIGURE 27. - Instrument platform (sensor mounting platform) locations. 




FIGURE 28. - Instrument platform that retracts into the roof of the entries-there are 38 such 
platforms installed in the facility. 



22 



SHOTFIRE CIRCUITS 

There are two shotfire control boxes 
located underground. One is located in 
the bulkhead chamber of the D entry bulk- 
head, the other in the B entry gas-mixing 
stub. The associated binding post panels 
are located on the internal rib of D 
entry outby the movable explosionproof 
bulkhead and on the B entry rib outby the 
gas mixing stub. Each control box acti- 
vates three independent shotfire cir- 
cuits. One of these circuits results in 
the time-delayed activation of two sets 
of binding posts. The time delay is pro- 
grammable. The shotfire circuits provide 
24 V dc (10 amp) to the binding posts. 
The shotfire control boxes incorporate 
multiple safety interlocks and can only 
be activated from the control building. 

Figure 29 shows the shotfire box in the 
D entry bulkhead chamber. J?'igure 30 
shows the associated binding post panel. 

INSTRUMENTATION CABLE DISTRIBUTION 

Figure 31 is an artist's rendition of 
the utility trenches and vertical bore- 
holes serving the underground workings . 
The trenches and boreholes contain the 
instrumentation cables, the 440 V-ac 
power circuit, water lines, gas lines, 
air lines, and communications. There are 
two instrument rooms located underground 
(fig. 32). One room is located on the 
solid rib side of C entry approximately 
240 ft outby E entry intersection. The 
second is located approximately 400 ft 
from the D entry explosionproof bulkhead 
location, along the solid rib. The in- 
strument rooms are accessed through 100- 
psi marine doors. On the surface above 
each instrument room is a utility pit. 
The instrument rooms and utility pits 
serve as distribution points for the 
instrumentation cable. 

The path of the instrumentation cable 
is as follows: 

• The cable leaves the control room 
and travels in a covered trench into the 



mine (through portal No. 4) to the base 
of a borehole located 200 ft inby No. 4 
portal. 

• The cable travels up a 12-in-diam 
borehole to the surface. 

• The cables travel in covered 
trenches to the following borehole loca- 
tions. The number of 15-wire pair cables 
that descend at each location is listed 
below: 

Borehole above D entry instrument 
room — 21. 

Borehole above C entry instrument 
room — 31. 

B entry gas-mixing stub — 1, 

D entry gas-mixing stub — 1, 

Borehole parallel to ventilation 
shaft — 1, 

• The cables travel through conduits 
encased in concrete in the mine ribs 
(fig. 33) to DG panels as required. 

In all, there are 1,620 miles of No, 18 
instrumentation wire in, above, and 
around the Lake Lynn Laboratory, 

UTILITY DISTRIBUTION 

The primary power supply brought into 
the underground workings (through 24- 
in-diam boreholes) is 440-V-ac, 3-phase, 
110-amp service. 

Available at each DG panel is 220-V-ac, 
single-phase (on a 30-amp breaker) and 
110-V-ac, single-phase (on a 20-amp 
breaker) service. 

Available throughout the new workings 
at approximately 150-ft intervals are — 

• air at 900 cfm and at 120 psi from a 
200-hp compressor, 

• water at 190 psi and 47,5 gpm. 






23 




FIGURE 29. - Shotfiring panel, 




FIGURE 30. - Binding post panel. 



24 





FIGURE 31. - Artist's rendition of utility trenches and vertical boreholes into underground workings. 




# 







FIGURE 32. - Underground instrument roo 



m. 



25 



If 




FIGURE 33. - DG panel— before pouring of concrete fender. 




FIGURE 34. - Forming and reinforcement for the concrete fenders underground; these fenders 
encase the air and water lines and the power, communication, and instrument cables. 



26 



RIB, ROOF, AND FLOOR CONDITION 

The entire floor area of the new work- 
ings Is covered with nominally 6- 
In-thlck, reinforced, 3,000-psl concrete. 
There are approximately 840 yd^ of con- 
crete In the floor. 

Along one rib of A, B, C, D, and E en- 
tries Is a nominal 10-ln-thlck, rein- 
forced concrete fender. The fender Is 
4 ft-hlgh throughout the area where DG 



panels are located and 18 In high In the 
remainder of the entries. In the DG 
panel areas, the fender houses air and 
water lines as well as power, communica- 
tion, and Instrument cables (fig. 34). 
In the remainder of the entries, the 
fender houses only air and water lines. 
There are approximately 980 yd^ of con- 
crete In these fenders. 



Figure 35 shows the floor 
fender condition underground. 



and rlb- 



CONTROL AND DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS 



DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM 

The Lake Lynn Laboratory Is equipped 
with a computer-controlled data acquisi- 
tion system (DAS). The sampling rate of 
the DAS Is 3,125,000 samples In an 8-sec 
Interval. There are 132 Input channels 
to the DAS. The system has a storage 
capability of 4 complete runs (approxi- 
mately 12 million samples). 



There Is a dedicated communications 
link from the Lake Lynn Laboratory system 
to the POP 11/34 computer located at the 
Bureau's Bruceton facility. Onslte in- 
terface capability to the Bruceton system 
is available at Lake Lynn, as is the 
ability for onslte data reduction (in- 
cluding preparation of plots). 




FIGURE 35. - View of a completed drift showing concrete floor and rib with concrete fender. 



3^ 



27 



GAS ANALYSIS SYSTEM 

The gas analysis system has the follow- 
ing features: 

• gas analysis (for methane and CO) is 
performed by a nondispersive infrared 
analyzer. 

• samples are drawn at 8 1pm at a 
vacuum of 6 in Hg. 

• each tube can automatically be in- 
dividually, selectively, or sequentially 
scanned. 

• the response time, from request for 
data for receipt of result, is less than 
1 min. 

• each time a sample is drawn, there 
is an automatic check for volume flow and 
vacuum. 



HIGH-SPEED ANALOG RECORDERS 

The Lake Lynn Laboratory is equipped 
with three high-speed light beam analog 
recorders. The recorders can operate 
with selected chart speeds up to 120 ips. 
A total of 82 analog signals can be 
simultaneously recorded. 

CONTROL SYSTEM 

The following operations can be 
controlled from the Control-Support 
Building: 

• main fan • gas release 

• shotfire circuits • gas sampling 

• ventilation shaft 

door 



CONCLUSIONS 



The Lake Lynn Laboratory presents a 
flexible environment that will enable 
researchers to investigate a number of 
mining health and safety phenomena. The 
primary area of interest is, of course, 
fires and explosions. The facility is 
unique in that it accurately reproduces 
present mining conditions, including a 
longwall panel. Its utilization will. 



however, extend to virtually all research 
areas that require isolated surroundings 
for safe evaluation of new technology 
such as innovative roof control devices, 
new explosives, and improved drills. 
Thus , the Lake Lynn Laboratory is a tool 
that promises to significantly contribute 
to the improvement of the health and 
safety of our Nation's miners. 



28 



APPENDIX 



TABLE A-1, - Contractors for the Lake Lynn Laboratory 



Contractor or Supplier 



Description 



MAJOR CONTRACTORS FOR THE LAKE LYNN LABORATORY 



Time 



Green International, 


Inc 


General facility design 


8/79-10/80 


Gilbert Corp 


Drift driving. Installation of movable 


10/79- 2/81 






bulkheads. Installation of remote 








control door, concrete on entry 








floor. 




Solomon & Teslevlch, 




Instrumentation and utilities 


8/80-10/81 


Weiss Brothers 


Hlghwall construction 


6/82- 9/82 



SUBCONTRACTORS OR SUPPLIERS FOR THE LAKE LYNN LABORATORY 



T. Yezbak & Son, 



Colonial Ornamental Iron Co.... 
Baldwin Electric 

Process Corp 

Dennis Corp 

Motorola Corp 

Tube Turn Corp 

Honeywell and Bell & Howell.... 



Construction of control building, fan 
building, compressor building, secur- 
ity walls, and fences. 

Movable bulkheads 

Instrument communication and power 
cable Installation, 

Computers ^ 

Concrete supplier 

Radio communication system 

Remote control door 

Analog recorders and data amplifiers.. 



Spring 1980- 
Fall 1981 

5/81 
10/80-10/81 

5/81 
10/80-11/81 
8/81 
8/80 
6/81 



^PDP 11/34 with 96 kw of memory, RP04 disk drive storage units (80 MB), 4 Analogic 
A/D converters, 13-blt resolution input = ji^lO V 250-KHz sampling rate, 4 Monolithic 
external memory units with 256 KB of semiconductor memory computer. Manufacturer: 
Digital Equipment Corp. 



Figure A-1 shows a plan view of the 
Bruceton Experimental Mine. The mine is 
a twin-parallel-gallery arrangement. The 
galleries (main entry and air course) are 
1,300 ft long. The cross section is rec- 
tangular, 6 ft high by 9 ft wide. Each 
gallery is lined with concrete and has 
mine-car tracks layed down the center. 
Within 600 ft of the face, the following 
instrumentation is installed: 

• dynamic pressure sensors (3) 



• static pressure sensors (10) 

• dust concentration probes (3) 

• light sensors (16) 

Figures A-2 and A-3 show the general 
condition of portal 4 and the high- 
wall prior to the start of con- 
struction. Figures A-4 through A-20 
show various stages of the facility 
construction. 



pyrometers (3) 



29 



Main 
entry> 



Air 
course 




Scale, m 



FIGURE A-1. - Plan view of Bruceton Experimental Mine. 



30 




FIGURE A=2, " Portal prior to installation of canopy. 




FIGURE A-3. - A very early view of the highwall and four portals. 



31 




FIGURE A=4, = Cutting utility trench in solid rock near the fanhouse 




FIGURE A-5, - Installing conduits from one utility pit to another. 



32 




FIGURE A-6. = Installing conduits in solid limestone paralleling the highwall between the control 
building and the underground workings. 




FIGURE A"7 - View of the inside of one of the five utility pits. 



33 




FIGURE A-8. - Conduits from underground entering computer room. 




FIGURE A.9. - Drilling in preparation for a blast in drift driving. 



34 




FIGURE A-10. - Loading explosives into blast holes in the face of a drift. 




FIGURE A=ll. - S.T.3 mucking buggy-used in transporting blasted limestone material out of the drifts, 



35 




FIGURE A-12. - Small bulldozer used for distribution of materials hauled out of the drifts to the 
underground ramp. 



36 




FIGURE A-13. - Two cranes lowering a 2-ft casing into a vertical borehole. 



37 




FIGURE A-14. - Five-foot-diameter rock drill used to bore the vertical borehole for the ventilation 
duct. Raise drilling method was used. 




FIGURE A=15. = Ventilation duct being installed underground, 



38 




FIGURE A-16. - Installing gunite (fibrous) on a fault in B-drift. 




FIGURE A.17. » Installation of 4-ft roof bolt in a drift. 



39 



y^<»-Ti»*S' ■«yii^ 





ilHtt^ 



hIGURh A=I8. ■= Roof bolt pattern in the old workings in areas being used as transporting routes, 




FIGURE A.19. - Reinforcement rods prior to pouring of concrete to construct bulkhead for an under- 
ground instrument room. 



40 




FIGURE A-20. - Forms to hold wet concrete for fender to protect instrumentation and utility, power, 
air, and water lines. 



■iVU.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1983-605-015/07 



INT.-BU.OF MINES, PGH., PA. 26541 



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